Should they stay or should they go - to a referendum: Māori wards under spotlight

Saturday, 3 August 2024

Some mayors slam it as central government overreach, others welcome have welcomed the new law that could see Māori wards dropped before or after the next election.

One council will hold hui to check the community temperature - another city is holding out for a formal poll.

Meanwhile the government says there’s “no more local form of government” than the changes it has created.

Councils around the nation are mulling over their next move after the government passed legislation on Tuesday that could see a swathe of newly-created Māori wards deleted before the next council election.

Some mayors contacted by Stuff have slammed the move as central government overreach, and essentially unfair - while others welcome it.

Far North District Council mayor Moko Tepania said the legislation was “incredibly disheartening” and unfairly singled out the council’s Māori ward.

“Our three general wards and 13 community board subdivisions do not require polls to remain,” he said.

Under the new law councils have till September 6 to decide whether to drop their Māori wards before the 2025 elections. If not, a binding referendum must be held alongside the election on their future.

The Far North council voted to retain its ward for the public poll in 2025.

“Our Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward has enhanced our representation, leadership and decision-making in the Far North,” said Tepania. “I trust that Far Northeners will see the huge benefits that this arrangement has brought to our council and will vote in next year’s poll to keep it.”

A binding poll alongside the election was expected to cost up to $10,000 for the council.

To the south, in Kaipara District Council, mayor Craig Jepson said he was pleased with the move to reintroduce referendums to Māori wards, however no decision had been made on the seat held by the district’s first Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora.

Jepson has previously said he wanted the ward gone before the next election, and opposed the use of karakia in council meetings.

Ruapehu District Council mayor Weston Kirton said the council had been supportive of Māori wards, but had not decided whether to drop them before next year’s election.

The council planned to hold two public hui to gauge public opinion before making a decision.

Wellington City would definitely be holding out for a poll alongside the next election for its Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori ward.

Mayor Tory Whanau said the law was a “concerning example of central government overruling a democratically made local government decision”.

It went “over and above” a reversion to the previous government’s law of 2021 dumping the binding polls, Whanau said.

“In a short space of time we have seen the Treaty Principles Bill, Ministry name reversals and the abolishment of the Maori Health Authority. I find this to be a very concerning trend.”

Whanau said she believed residents wanted their Māori ward kept - she said many of them would understand, respect, and want to uphold Te Tiriti in decision making.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said protections for Māori wards had been “divisive”.

“They took away the voices of local communities across the country and undermined the principles of democracy,” he said.

He said the Government was elected on a mandate to deliver on the policies it campaigned on.

“This includes reversing Labour’s changes to Māori wards legislation, which was a commitment for the three parties that make up the coalition government.”

There was no more local a form of government “than individuals being able to decide on local issues at the ballot box”, Brown said.

Elections ‘out of sync’

Meanwhile new Tauranga mayor Mahe Drysdale said since the city was out of sync with the national local government election cycle, its decision on its Māori ward would need to be made by late 2026.

The city held its council election in July after commissioners had been appointed to replace its previous council since 2020.

“This matter will be considered by the new council in due course and it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt that process,” Drysdale said.

He said he was looking forward to having Te Awanui councillor Mikaere Sydney “providing a Māori voice as we work collaboratively for the good of Tauranga”.

In the past few years, New Zealand has gone from having three councils with Māori wards to 49 councils that either have them already, or planned to have them at the 2025 elections.

Over previous two decades, 24 councils attempted to create Māori wards under the old Local Electoral Act 2001, with only two decisions surviving. Unlike other types of wards, Māori wards could be overturned by community-initiated votes (also called referendums, or polls).

The 2021 law passed by the previous Labour government removed the polls.

The latest law returned the ability to trigger the polls, but also forced councils to either vote to drop the wards themselves from the next election, or put them to a binding poll.

Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz said her council had already formally agreed that Māori wards would go out to a community poll.

However she said they would go through the process of confirming that again with councillors, as requested by government.

“We believe that maintaining Māori wards is crucial for fostering inclusive governance and reflecting the diverse voices of our region, of which Māori represent 56%,' she said.